According to a recent market report published by Future Market Insights titled “Disc Printers Market: U.S., Europe & Japan Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026” the U.S., Europe & Japan disc printers market was valued at US$ 929.6 Mn in 2015, and is expected to register a declining CAGR of -3.0% from 2016 to 2026. Increasing demand for online media content, continuous adoption of cloud-based storage services and other media storage devices, high raw material cost and technological innovation with efficient alternatives for accessing data are the major factors affecting the growth of the disc printers market in U.S., Europe & Japan.

Disc printing is the process of printing text, data or images on the surface of the optical disc. Two different approaches for printing CD-R on-demand are - Thermal disc printing and Inkjet disc printing. A thermal disc printer employs pressure and heat to apply text and graphics to the disc surface. The print surface of thermal printed discs is more durable. Thermal disc printing produces colour custom labels that are waterproof, scratchproof and do not require any additional coating. However their colour printing capability has limitations that preclude its use in cases when label has complex colour graphic content. Inkjet printers utilise a mechanism in which the print head has several tiny nozzles/jets that spray ink onto the disc, as the disc moves past the print head, forming the characters or images. Inkjet disc printers may employ a single cartridge for different colours or several cartridges, with one for each colour depending upon different models, and are priced accordingly.

The U.S., Europe & Japan disc printers market is categorised on the basis of printer type as thermal disc printers and inkjet disc printers. On the basis thermal disc printers, the market is further segregated on the basis of technology (direct thermal printing and thermal retransfer & dye-sublimation printing) and ribbon type (monochrome black, colour and photo). On the basis of inkjet disc printers, the market is further segregated on the basis of technology (continuous ink technology and drop on demand technology) and head design (fixed head and replaceable head).

The inkjet disc printers segment is a major segment offering 55% market revenue in 2015

The thermal disc printer sub-segment was valued at US$ 418.3 Mn in 2015 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of -2.5% during the forecast period

The inkjet disc printer sub-segment was valued at US$ 511.3 Mn in 2015 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of -3.4% during the forecast period.

Regional market projections

This report also covers trends driving each segment and offers analysis and insights regarding the potential of thermal and inkjet disc printers in regions including U.S, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Japan. Among these regions, Western Europe accounted for the largest market share in 2015. This is majorly due to inclination of service providers towards offering packaged services such as disc printing, duplication and packaging services, in turn allowing key players to attract price-sensitive customers and gain the competitive advantage in the long term.